# Smart Comedies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [September 26, 2022, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239 "2022-09-26T05:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/62 "2022-09-26T21:31:16Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Burt was abducted by aliens and replaced by an alien double I thought that plotline made more sense than when Chester thought he was Marlene Dietrich. At least it gave us the moment when Burt was explaining to Mary how he’d been abducted, then snapped his fingers and got re-abducted, vanishing before her eyes. Her reaction? “OMG, Burt, you CAN turn invisible! I’m sorry I never believed you!!” I enjoyed all the seasons, but I admit it was wearing a bit thinner toward the end. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/63 "2022-09-26T21:46:29Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > _Kim’s Convenience_ available on Netflix. A 22-30 minute show that is a modern style sitcom, not a traditional 4-camera live audience style. I like that one. The dynamic between the father and Janet is straight-up wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/64 "2022-09-26T22:32:15Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > _Ghosts_ on CBS or Paramount+. Not a 4-camera live audience sitcom, but the writing is more of a traditional sitcom style. The first episode is pretty weak, but after that it is much better than I expected. Note that it’s based on a [BBC series of the same name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_(2019_TV_series)). And I don’t know if the UK original or the US adaptation qualifies as “smart” but they are fun. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/65 "2022-09-26T22:47:54Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **Corner Gas** - Hank was lazy, not stupid. Oscar was just old. I do watch that on Amazon. Sergeant Davis Quinton is stupid to an extent. But my folks live up there and did some stuff for the show, so I still watch it once in a while. Yes, the star, Brent, is not stupid. > [@Powers](#): > > _M_A_S_H\*? My Wife tapes MASH and we both watch it. But Burns _is_ stupid. The show picks up when Winchester gets there, but then it starts being run by Alda, and the plots gets too preachy. > [@echoreply](#): > > _Ghosts_ on CBS or Paramount+. Wonderful show, am watching it as the episodes come out. BTW- is there any way for us Yanks to view the British Original? I subscribe to HBO on cable, but altho the show is supposedly on HBO Max, I think that is just streaming. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/66 "2022-09-27T00:02:29Z")
I believe if you’re a subscriber to the HBO cable channel, you are able to access the HBO Max streaming service. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/67 "2022-09-27T00:23:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > if you’re a subscriber to the HBO cable channel, you are able to access the HBO Max streaming service. This is correct, at least in my case. I subscribe to HBO via my Cox cable, and I can login to HBOMAX using my Cox credentials. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/68 "2022-09-27T03:22:19Z")
_The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin_ [the original one with Leonard Rossiter]. [The hero is being interviewed on a TV talk show.] “In fact, I provide a valuable social service.” “Mr. Perrin, are you trying to tell us that you provide a valuable social service?” “No.” “But you just said—” “I’m not trying to tell you that I provide a valuable social service; I’m succeeding. If I had said, ‘I like squashy bananas,’ I would have failed to tell you that I provide a valuable social service, but I didn’t say, ‘I like squashy bananas,’ I said, ‘I provide a valuable social service,’ and thus succeeded brilliantly at telling you that I provide a valuable social service.” ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/69 "2022-09-27T03:35:06Z")
I do … it was derailed by American movie classics becoming just another TBS station although that was due to TCM and fox making their own “classics” stations then not getting the movies they were used to getting and new owners adding commercials … ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/70 "2022-09-27T04:07:05Z")
_Future Man_ is a very bizarre but surprisingly deep 3-season show. The depth of cultural reference twisted for humorous gain is just astounding. The third and last season was clearly made on a much smaller budget than the previous two, but it still provides a satisfying story and series ending. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeysBrother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@MonkeysBrother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeysBrother)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/71 "2022-09-27T05:07:45Z")
It’s been many years since I watched it, but I remember _Slings and Arrows_ as being smart and clever (and especially fun if you’re a theater buff). ---
**Author:** ![Fortyfold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7c8e57/32.png) [@Fortyfold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fortyfold)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/72 "2022-09-27T09:13:42Z")
Perhaps _Mapp and Lucia_, Although that might be called highbrow rather than smart. There are two productions, the 1980s ITV one and the more recent BBC version, the older one is generally reckoned to be the better of the two. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/73 "2022-09-27T10:30:22Z")
Since the show _Barney Miller_ was mentioned in the OP, I thought you might want to know that Hal Linden, who played Barney Miller, is still alive and still working at 91: > **['What is retirement?' At age 91, 'Barney Miller' actor Hal Linden has no...](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/barney-miller-actor-hal-linden-now-91-says-he-never-plans-to-retire-11664026192)** > > The television star and Tony Award winner is keeping busy with a new off-Broadway play. Wouldn’t it be great if he could play the same character in a new show? It couldn’t be about him still being a policeman, since his character would be well into retirement years. Only Max Gail (who played Wojo) and Barbara Barrie (who played Elizabeth, Barney’s wife) are still alive from the main cast. It would be about Barney still working at something. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/74 "2022-09-27T11:17:53Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Yes Minister. Lots of youtube scenes to check out. This scene about the readership of the British papers is probably my favorite from the show, and it holds up remarkably well almost 40 years later; [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DGscoaUWW2M/hqdefault.jpg "Who reads the papers? - Yes, Prime Minister - BBC comedy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/75 "2022-09-27T11:58:56Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Anyone remember [Remember WENN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remember_WENN)? > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > One of the best shows ever on television. And probably we’re the only two who do remember it. It was a favorite of the late critic Terry Teachout, whose taste in sitcoms was very much in keeping with the OP’s. (FWIW, Teachout also loved **The Good Place** and **The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel**.) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/76 "2022-09-27T11:59:49Z")
> [@MonkeysBrother](#): > > It’s been many years since I watched it, but I remember _Slings and Arrows_ as being smart and clever (and especially fun if you’re a theater buff). Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/77 "2022-09-27T12:47:02Z")
Would the Norman Lear shows fit? The Archie Bunker version of “stupid” is different from most stupid characters, and most of the shows don’t have that type of character. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/78 "2022-09-27T13:39:53Z")
> [@SDWC](#): > > I’d go with Scrubs. Good call. I’ve heard it said more than once that, as surreal and silly as the show could occasionally be, it got the reality of working in a hospital better than any other Dr. show, including ‘serious’ ones. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/79 "2022-09-27T13:55:45Z")
My memory is hazy, but I do recall that one of the more unusual and original TV comedies of the 1960s was **My World and Welcome To It** , starring William Windom, and based on the stories and cartoons of James Thurber. (1969-1970) Definitely off the beaten track, and with the Thurber lineage, pretty clearly “smart”. > **[My World and Welcome to It](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_World_and_Welcome_to_It)** > > My World ... and Welcome to It is an American half-hour television sitcom based on the humor and cartoons of James Thurber. > It starred William Windom as John Monroe, a Thurber-like writer and cartoonist who works for a magazine closely resembling The New Yorker called The Manhattanite. Wry, fanciful and curmudgeonly, Monroe observes and comments on life, to the bemusement of his wife Ellen (Joan Hotchkis) and daughter Lydia (Lisa Gerritsen). Monroe's frequent daydreams and fantasies are usually... ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/80 "2022-09-27T13:58:46Z")
I’m another who fondly remembers **Remember WENN**. It was always kind of fun to occasionally spot actors from it when they showed up on one of the **Law & Order** shows. Apparently it’s available for streaming if I were to add AMC+ to my Amazon Prime subscription. I’m on the fence as to whether I want to add yet another streaming service just for a single show, even a good one. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/81 "2022-09-27T15:01:46Z")
Does anyone else remember **Happy Endings**? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239.md?page=5)